stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2010-12-26 11:06 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2010-12-26 11:06 pm
Christmas Eve 2010
For Christmas Eve I piled the boys into the car along with various presents and the cookies. Sasha drove us up to Saginaw to my mother's. It was Sasha' first long drive, and he did very well. The weather also cooperated, which was a boon!
At my mother's, it was the usual noisy chaos. Aran only had to withdraw once for some peace and quiet, which shows enormous growth. Much delicious food was consumed. The chocolate-mint thumbprint cookies were praised as highly decadent.
And we opened presents, of course. I'd drawn my brother's name in the family lottery, and I gave him a Boxful of Boyhood. I'd stopped at the Rocket, a novelty toy store in Ypsilanti, and bought a whole bunch of boy-type toys--a paddle ball, an exploding pen, a pack of gum that shocks anyone who pulls the stick, a joy buzzer, a finger trap, old-fashioned candy, and so on. At the bottom was a video game for his Kinect. Everyone crowded around the box and was playing with the stuff.
My sister and I gave my mother a Kindle, with TRASH COURSE (which I wrote using her name as a pseudonym) loaded onto it, and she liked that quite a lot.
I got two books on screenwriting that I really wanted, many pairs of jeans that I sorely needed, and the first volume of Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. Score! I've been making small forays into advanced cooking, and I'm itching to make a bigger leap into it. This book is a logical starting point, and I've wanted it for quite a while.
Then there was more socializing, and a bit of wrestling among the male cousins. We all pitched in to clean up and restore Mom's house to order, and then it was time to go home.
Sasha once again took them helm (I'm not allowed to drive anymore), and we arrived safely in time to put out milk and cookies for Santa.
I let Maksim stay up later than usual. See, I've never understood parents who send their kids to bed early on Christmas Eve. This does two things: 1) Ensures they'll have excited, wide-awake kids who won't sleep right away, and 2) Guarantees the kids will wake up extra, extra early on Christmas morning. I keep Mackie up an hour past his bedtime on Christmas Eve. He goes straight to sleep, and doesn't wake up until a decent hour in the morning. Perfect!
Once everyone was in bed and sleeping, I set out presents and removed the cookies and milk. Ready for morning!
At my mother's, it was the usual noisy chaos. Aran only had to withdraw once for some peace and quiet, which shows enormous growth. Much delicious food was consumed. The chocolate-mint thumbprint cookies were praised as highly decadent.
And we opened presents, of course. I'd drawn my brother's name in the family lottery, and I gave him a Boxful of Boyhood. I'd stopped at the Rocket, a novelty toy store in Ypsilanti, and bought a whole bunch of boy-type toys--a paddle ball, an exploding pen, a pack of gum that shocks anyone who pulls the stick, a joy buzzer, a finger trap, old-fashioned candy, and so on. At the bottom was a video game for his Kinect. Everyone crowded around the box and was playing with the stuff.
My sister and I gave my mother a Kindle, with TRASH COURSE (which I wrote using her name as a pseudonym) loaded onto it, and she liked that quite a lot.
I got two books on screenwriting that I really wanted, many pairs of jeans that I sorely needed, and the first volume of Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. Score! I've been making small forays into advanced cooking, and I'm itching to make a bigger leap into it. This book is a logical starting point, and I've wanted it for quite a while.
Then there was more socializing, and a bit of wrestling among the male cousins. We all pitched in to clean up and restore Mom's house to order, and then it was time to go home.
Sasha once again took them helm (I'm not allowed to drive anymore), and we arrived safely in time to put out milk and cookies for Santa.
I let Maksim stay up later than usual. See, I've never understood parents who send their kids to bed early on Christmas Eve. This does two things: 1) Ensures they'll have excited, wide-awake kids who won't sleep right away, and 2) Guarantees the kids will wake up extra, extra early on Christmas morning. I keep Mackie up an hour past his bedtime on Christmas Eve. He goes straight to sleep, and doesn't wake up until a decent hour in the morning. Perfect!
Once everyone was in bed and sleeping, I set out presents and removed the cookies and milk. Ready for morning!